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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28099722">No Thoughts Head Empty</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Tomb_With_A_View/pseuds/A_Tomb_With_A_View'>A_Tomb_With_A_View</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer: Brother, Boyfriend, Son, Himbo [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alex just wants to be the best big brother, F/M, I baked brownies so I figured why not let’s do a bonus, M/M, baking is sentimental, this is Alex &amp; Julie because I’m soft for them and I haven’t written about them as much as I should</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:15:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,989</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28099722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Tomb_With_A_View/pseuds/A_Tomb_With_A_View</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Julie was pretty fucking terrified about baking with Alex. </p><p>As much as she adored him, he was definitely the ghost she’d spent the least time with, because of a mixture of things like his dates with Willie, her dates with Luke, the time he spent at the Wilson’s and she at Flynn’s, and honestly, just how hard it was to find him without one or both of their bandmates. It wasn’t that they never spent any time alone, it was just that usually there were other people there, which made it difficult to have the kind of rambling, soul searching conversations she’d sometimes ended up having with Luke and Reggie.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex &amp; Julie Molina, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Ray Molina/Rose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer: Brother, Boyfriend, Son, Himbo [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058618</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>414</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>No Thoughts Head Empty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameCristal/gifts">MadameCristal</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetripleimposter3000/gifts">thetripleimposter3000</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi kids!<br/>I did not intend to do this, to be perfectly honest, but then I was baking brownies and my friend Manavi said she wanted Alex&amp;Julie, and then my friend Cristal said she wanted fluff to cheer her up so... here you go?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Julie was pretty fucking terrified about baking with Alex. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As much as she adored him, he was definitely the ghost she’d spent the least time with, because of a mixture of things like his dates with Willie, her dates with Luke, the time he spent at the Wilson’s and she at Flynn’s, and honestly, just how hard it was to find him without one or both of their bandmates. It wasn’t that they never spent any time alone, it was just that usually there were other people there, which made it difficult to have the kind of rambling, soul searching conversations she’d sometimes ended up having with Luke and Reggie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d known the second she’d found her mom’s secret brownie recipe whilst she was sorting through the box she’d found the Sunset Curve demo in, though, that Alex was the man to take it to. If she did it with Ray or Carlos, she knew she’d breakdown in tears long before they finished. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unsurprisingly, Julie found him in the garage, head in Willie’s lap and Reggie sprawled across his chest. It never failed to amaze her just how at peace her boys looked together, no matter which ones were together. She’d seen Luke snuggle into Alex and Willie’s side completely indiscriminately, Reggie was liable to lay on top of whoever looked the easiest to push flat, and Alex had an incredible ability to simply fit himself between whoever was present. Even Bobby fit into the equation seamlessly when he was there, although the way he looked at them reminded Julie more of the way her dad looked at them than the way they looked at each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knocked lightly on the garage door to announce her presence. “Alex?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex raised his head a little, blinking blearily like he’d just woken up. “Hmm? Oh, hi, Jules. What can I do you for?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie smiled to herself fondly. “Can I talk to you about something? Like… alone?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, of course.” He nodded, nudging Reggie gently. “Reg… Reggie, you gotta move, man. I need’ta get up.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reggie groaned, not bothering to open his eyes. “But I’m so comfy.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Willie snorted. “If you let Alex out, I’ll be your pillow instead, dude.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine.. I’m moving..” Reggie stumbled to his feet just long enough to let Alex move and Willie rearrange himself, before laying back down in the same position. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex jogged over to her as soon as he could. “What’s up?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie shrugged and led him outside. “I know dad has probably told you how terrible I am in the kitchen… but, I found my mom’s secret brownie recipe and… I really wanna surprise him and Carlos and Tía with a batch, but I’m not going to be able to pull it off myself, and you’re, like, a </span>
  <em>
    <span>master </span>
  </em>
  <span>baker, so…” she rolled up onto her tiptoes and back down nervously. </span>
</p><p>Before even replying, Alex wrapped her up in a hug. “Of course, Julie-bean.” </p><p>
  <span>Julie stood there for a moment, just relishing in the pressure of his arms around her, and how it felt like she could fall to pieces right there, and he’d hold her in place long enough for her to stitch herself back together. After a minute though, she inhaled shakily and pulled back a little. “I, um. Carlos and dad are taking Reg to see this line dancing thing at Carlos’s school tonight, so could you ask Willie to distract Luke for the night?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m pretty sure Luke could watch Willie skate for hours,” Alex joked. “So, yeah. Have you got all the ingredients?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We have everything but Baileys,” she said. “But I’m not sure how to get that?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grinned. “Leave it with me. What time will the boys be going?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie hummed, thinking. “Uh, it starts at six, but dad likes to be early to things, so we should have the kitchen to ourselves after half five.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll meet you there, along with the booze.” He offered his knuckles, grinning when she bumped hers against his. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>——</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was more like quarter to six when the house was finally free of all its inhabitants, but Ray had promised to take Carlos and Reggie out for burgers after their dance thing, and Willie had bet Alex planning rights for their next date that he could keep Luke out most of the night, so Julie wasn’t worried about the timing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As promised, Alex joined her in the kitchen moments after Ray had shut the backdoor behind him, a bottle of Irish Cream Liquor in hand. “I got it!” He told her proudly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Awesome!” Julie held her hand up for a high five. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex slapped it and set the bottle down. “Right, let’s see this recipe?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, sure.” She nodded and grabbed it from where she’d hidden it between two cookbooks that had never been used even once. “So, I’m pretty sure it’s a photocopy of a kid’s recipe book, but she’s made edits and additions, and the alcohol was definitely not in the original version.” </span>
</p><p>“Okay..” Alex read the recipe over her shoulder, scanning through the lines. “So how many of these are we making? One batch? Two?” </p><p>
  <span>Julie thought for a second. “I.. I feel like I should say two so we can share them with everyone, but… twelve will be enough, right? Me, dad, Carlos, you, Reg, Luke, Willie, Tía, Bobby, Carrie, Flynn, and one spare. That’ll work?” </span>
</p><p>“Sounds good to me. Plus, we can probably cut them smaller than the recipe says to, if we need to.” He wrapped one arm around her. “You need a minute or are we good to go?” </p><p>
  <span>“Just a second, please?” She asked, resting her head on his shoulder. “It’s been… I guess I didn’t realise how long it’s been since I read her handwriting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex squeezed her shoulder gently. “Hey, that’s okay. Take as long as you need.”</span>
</p><p>Eventually she took a shuddered breath and brushed non-existent lint off herself. “Okay, let’s do this.”</p><p>
  <span>“You sure?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie nodded firmly. “I’m sure, ‘Lex. What’s step one?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex’s gaze scanned over her quickly, like he was making sure she was telling him the truth, but he acquiesced quickly. “Okay. Can you get baking paper for the tray and grease it with butter while I get all the ingredients out?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, do I just… drag a stick of butter over it?” She asked as she grabbed the parchment paper out of the cupboard under the sink.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No?” Alex shot her a horrified look. “Just check the top of the fridge, there’s like an ounce of butter in its package from the last time I baked. Use the foil to hold it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie held the butter she’d found as Alex had set up triumphantly. “Y’know, that does make a lot more sense.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, tell me about your mom?” Alex asked carefully, climbing half on top of the counter to grab the plain flour tucked away. “Carlos and Ray - dad, I guess - have told me a lot, but they always say I should ask you about her music. You don’t have to, obviously.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, it’s okay.” She smiled up at him. “Mom was… she was amazing. I mean, dad has an awesome voice, too, so music wasn’t just mine and my mom’s, it was all of ours, but also it was, if that makes sense? What do you want me to do next?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex handed her a scale. “Can you weigh out six ounces of butter, please? And that makes total sense, like… like how guitar isn’t just Luke’s thing, ‘cause me, Bobby, and Reg can play too, but also it is his thing, ‘cause he’d probably forget how to breathe if he didn’t play every day?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, exactly!” Julie beamed at him, something settling in her chest at the realisation that Alex wasn’t just </span>
  <em>
    <span>saying </span>
  </em>
  <span>he got it, he actually did. She grabbed the block of butter Alex had set out for her and started chopping it up to weigh. “Before mom died, this place… someone was </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>singing. It’s starting to become that way again, now that you guys are here, but I think that was one of the hardest things, some of the times?” </span>
</p><p>Alex hummed to show he was listening, but nodded like he didn’t have anything to say, just grabbed their dad’s old fashioned scale and started measuring out sugar. </p><p>
  <span>She finished the butter and moved onto weighing the flour at Alex’s direction. “I guess… it was the most constant reminder that she was gone, y’know? Every time I went to just randomly sing in the kitchen I was just hit by the knowledge that she wasn’t going to join in, and then I just… I couldn’t.” She sniffled and wiped under her eye angrily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex put the sugar down quickly and moved to her side, offering his arms but not moving any closer. “You okay?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie took Alex’s hands but stayed back. “Can we talk about something else for a bit?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“‘Course we can. Wanna hear about how I had a crush on Bobby for a whole year?” Alex asked, squeezing her hands before moving back to his sugar. “It was quite possibly the worst year of my life, and I ran away the next year.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She laughed wetly. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Bobby? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Oh my god. You have the same taste in men as papa.” </span>
</p><p>Alex sighed dramatically and tipped his sugar into the mixing bowl. “Yeah. But at least I was crushing on curtains-and-suspenders rockstar Bobby, not man-bun-and-helicopter dad Bobby. I think my crush was a little more valid.” </p><p>
  <span>“I have to give you that,” Julie admitted, rifling through a cupboard for baking powder. “But, tell me about it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, basically, I was fifteen, right?” He said, grabbing the box of eggs. “And, like, I’ve known I’m gay since I was nine and Bobby described his first crush on a girl and I realised that was how I felt about Timmy G from the little league baseball team, but fifteen was when everything got kinda… y’know.” His cheeks burned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie snorted, almost spilling cocoa powder everywhere. “Oh, Jesus. Do I even wanna know?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex looked up at her balefully over his bowl off eggs. “Honestly? No,” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now you have to tell me, though.” </span>
</p><p>“Ugh, fine.” He started whisking his eggs to avoid looking at her. “So, my mom and dad took me and my little sister, Ava, away for like, the whole summer holiday every year. And we got back when I was fifteen, so I hadn’t seen any of the boys in two months or so, and I got back and Bobby was like a whole foot taller, he’d put on probably half his weight again in muscle, and he started wearing these stupid shirts that were always just a little bit too tight-”</p><p>
  <span>“Like Luke’s sleeveless everything?” Julie interrupted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, exactly.” Alex nodded. “And, like, before that I knew I liked guys, but then he came round mine on the last day of the summer in this see-through white shirt and swimming trunks and I spent the next year in pretty much constant gay panic.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie whistled lowly, then stopped short. “Was it Flynn or Willie that taught you what gay panic is?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Carrie, actually,” Alex informed her, adding vanilla essence to his eggs. “We were watching Birds of Prey, and she choked on her popcorn when Huntress came on screen.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“D’y’know what? That’s so valid.” Julie finished weighing everything out and waited for Alex to finish as well. “Can I ask what caused the end of this year-long crush?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex turned red and stood up, grabbing a pan out of the cupboard. “He pushed me down the stairs and I broke my arm in the three places.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He </span>
  <em>
    <span>what?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Julie asked, jaw dropping a little in shock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, that sounded really really bad, but I promise it actually wasn’t.” Alex paused, and pulled a face. “Well, it kind of was, but not because Bobby pushed me down the stairs, but because i was sat in a trolley whilst he did it, and because he jumped into it on the way down, and because I agreed to do it, because when he asked we were standing outside and it was, like, golden hour, and he looked so pretty, Julie, like not as pretty as Willie, but impressively close, and what was I supposed to do? Say no?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” Julie squawked, raising her hands like she was going to throttle him. She very seriously considered it, but Alex </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>doing her a favour, and she’d feel pretty horrible if she strangled him whilst he was helping her do something like this. “That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex scoffed and put the butter on the stove. “So you’re honestly telling me that if Luke have you puppy dog eyes and asked you if you’d sit in a trolley so he could push it down the stairs so he could try jump in it and go with you, that you wouldn’t? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Really?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course I wouldn’t?” She poked Alex’s shoulder. “It’s called common sense? Isn’t that kind of what your anxiety does?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My anxiety has a cute boy override, duh.” He rolled his eyes, stirring the butter quickly. “Well, it also has a cute boy panic button, but when cute boys are asking me to do stupid things - let them push me down the stairs in trolleys, break into museums and scream, bake with dads that scare me - it tends to be the former.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hopped up to sit on the counter next to the oven. “And because you have no innate common sense, as soon as you’ve stopped panicking, you stop thinking full stop, and bam! Your arm is broken in three places?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...I hate to admit it, but yeah. Pretty much.” Alex nodded, looking about as embarrassed as Julie thought he should. “But! You put your foot </span>
  <em>
    <span>through </span>
  </em>
  <span>my drum last Thursday because Luke wore my hoodie and it was too big for him and your brain broke.” </span>
</p><p>Julie opened her mouth to rebuke that, but had to shut it after a moment. “Yeah, well…” </p><p>
  <span>“That's what I thought,” he said smugly as he brought the butter off the heat. “Can you grab the wooden spoon for me? Start stirring as soon as I pour this in.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She did as he asked, and started stirring as soon as he’d poured the butter into the sugar. “Tell me about the dancing?”</span>
</p><p>“What do you mean?” He spun a chair round and sat on it backwards. “At Carrie’s performance?” </p><p>
  <span>“I guess. And just in general.” She shrugged. “I’ve seen you jamming around with dad and Carlos, and there was that time we watched the Greatest Showman, and you and Reg found the video of the rewrite the stars dance on YouTube and just rewatched it over and over until you could recreate the whole thing. What do I do next?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eggs, now, a little bit at a time,” he told her, standing up again to take over mixing so she could add the eggs in bit by bit. “And I guess… part of it is just because I was never allowed to, as a kid. Some big act of rebellion, or something, I don’t know. Mainly though, I just like moving. It’s why I like the drums, y’know? I get to make music, which I love, but it’s a great outlet, too. Dancing is the same.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie nodded slowly, pouring in eggs as and when he motioned for her to. “Is that why you’ve started doing it with Carrie?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mainly rehearse with Carrie ‘cause she’s awesome and her choreo is amazing,” Alex admitted. “But sometimes being surrounded by people who know me as well as Reg and Luke do is kinda suffocating.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She chewed her lip. “I don’t… I don’t know what you mean?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex paused. “Uh… flour, please. Um. I guess, well. With Willie, and you and Carrie, everything is new, right? So, I have to say </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything </span>
  </em>
  <span>out loud, so that you understand what’s going on, which helps me get my thoughts in order. But with Reg and Luke - and Bobby - we don’t need all that, but it means it can be harder to organise everything in my head, because they don’t need me to talk through it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She grabbed the flour and the sieve. “Doesn’t it help, though? That they know everything?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kinda?” He waved his hand back and forth in a ‘so so’ motion, moving out of the way so she could sieve the flour in. “Sometimes it just makes me feel exposed. Sometimes it’s the most comforting thing in the world. I stopped trying to understand it a long time ago.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie nodded slowly and leaned against him. “That makes sense, thanks for explaining, Lexi.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pressed his cheek against her hair. “No problem, Julie-bean.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>——</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jules… this says </span>
  <em>
    <span>half a cup </span>
  </em>
  <span>of baileys. Half a </span>
  <em>
    <span>cup. </span>
  </em>
  <span>That’s a hundred and twenty five millilitres of whiskey and cream. To go in brownie batter,” Alex said, looking frantically between the recipe sheet and Julie. “Really?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie shrugged. “This recipe is the result of a lot of trial and error. If it says we use half a cup of baileys, we use half a cup.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex pulled a face, but obediently measured out half a cup, and then poured it in. “I’m so uncomfortable.”</span>
</p><p>“Oh, suck it up,” she teased, emptying two packets of chocolate chips into the mix. “Just accept what the recipe tells you to do.” </p><p>
  <span>“Yes ma’am.” He saluted her, mixing everything in jerkily. “Can you grab the tray for me, please?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie got it for him, doing her best to press the baking paper down so he could pour the batter out. “Thanks, ‘Lex. I know you like baking, so it’s probably not much of a chore for you, but it really means a lot that you helped me do this.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex smiled up at her as he scraped the sides of the bowl to get the last of it. “Of course, Jules. It was awesome to get to spend some time with you, usually we don’t get to.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s been great,” she agreed, opening the oven door. “So, we have to wait forty minutes for these to cook, do you wanna watch something? Do something?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm.” He knelt down and slid the tray onto the shelf. “Can you start a timer for forty minutes? How about… we could watch that show you keep asking me to watch? The one about… uh… fuck, I can’t remember.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The gay but not gay wizard and king?” She suggested, starting the timer on her phone. “Or the police show?” </span>
</p><p>Alex hummed. “The gay but not gay wizard and king.” </p><p>
  <span>“Forty minutes of queerbaiting, coming right up,” Julie joked, leading Alex through to the living room. </span>
</p><p>“I have no idea what that means, Jules,” he reminded her, smiling fondly. </p><p>
  <span>She flopped back onto the sofa. “It’s where the show sets up a romantic storyline for a queer couple but doesn’t follow it through, so you’re kind just left with the intense feeling that characters were </span>
  <em>
    <span>meant </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be together, but they never actually end up together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh.” Alex laid down on the other couch, hugging a pillow to his chest. “Let’s give it a shot?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, but let me just warn you that even the actors think the characters should’ve been gay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>——</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alex! The timer’s going off! They’re ready!” Julie perked up as soon as her phone started chiming, and scrambled to her feet excitedly. “Alex, c’mon!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Woah, I’m coming, Julie!” Alex got to his feet and obligingly followed Julie through to the kitchen, laughing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie opened the oven excitedly, pulling the trays out as fast as she reasonably could without burning her hands or dropping them. “Lexi! They look so good, we did awesome!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck yeah, we did.” Alex offered his fist, but quickly moved out the way once she’d bumped knuckles with him so that she could set the tray down. “Damn, Julie, your mom knew her shit.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She did,” Julie agreed, reaching for Alex’s hand. “Y’know, I didn’t even think we’d be able to recreate them properly. I thought they’d go wrong.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How come?” Alex pulled her close and hugged her the same way her dad always did, chin resting on her head and arms wrapped tightly around her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No one’s ever been able to make them just like mama did,” she explained, shrugging as much as she could. “Not even dad </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>Carlos working together, and both of them have helped her make them. They just didn’t turn out right.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh. That’s pretty weird,” Alex admitted. “Maybe the trick is talking about cute boys.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie laughed, smacking his chest. “The secret to my mom’s brownies is so </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>talking about cute boys!” </span>
</p><p>“True.” He nudged her shoulder. “Hey, maybe your mom was a witch, and you’re one too, and that’s why only you two can get the recipe to work?” </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe Carlos and dad just made a mistake,” she reason, lifting the parchment paper out of the tray so she could place the brownies on the side to cool. “They have an odd tendency to get into nerf fights when they cook together.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex looked horrified. “Nerf fights? </span>
  <em>
    <span>In </span>
  </em>
  <span>the kitchen? Where the food is?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie nodded. “Yup.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bon dieu, ce sont des idiots,” Alex muttered, then promptly lost all colour in his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie narrowed her eyes. “Was that </span>
  <em>
    <span>French?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex shrugged uncomfortably. “My mom was French.” </span>
</p><p>“How come I’ve never heard you speak it?” She asked as she grabbed a knife.</p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t spoken a single word of it since I ran away,” he told her gently. “That was a phrase my mom used to use all the time, when me and my little sister would do something particularly stupid.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t baked since my mom died,” Julie admitted. “So I guess we’re both having our second firsts tonight. We’ve got this. I made brownies, you can start speaking a language again.” </span>
</p><p>Alex nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll do my best. Now, if you’re up to it, could you maybe tell me more about your mom? She sounds amazing.” </p><p>
  <span>“She was,” Julie agreed, carefully cutting the cake into individual brownies. “Her and my dad met a year after she met Bobby, and she always used to tell me that she knew immediately that they’d end up falling in love.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s beautiful.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. It took a while. According to dad, it was because he was busy being infatuated with Bobby, and then because his photography career took off a bit, but mom always said that she never minded, because she knew he’d come to her, and she knew she wouldn’t have to wait forever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bona-fida soulmates…” Alex breathed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie nodded and grabbed a saucer, placing a single brownie on each of them. “Then just as she was starting to get impatient, he asked her what her favourite flower was. Papa always told me that she’d been wearing a dahlia pin at the time, but mom said that she hadn’t actually had a favourite flower at the time, and that the dahlia had only become her favourite because dad started buying them from here.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alex smiled, eyes shiny. “I love that. You wanna try? See if you’ve lived up to everything?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kind of?” Suddenly baking her mom’s brownies seemed like an awful idea, what if they tasted horrible and she ruined the memory of them? What if they were similar but not quite close enough and she had to risk the rest of her life knowing that there was no one alive who could tell her what the needed adjustments were. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He squeezed her hand. “You’ve got this.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie nodded slowly and took a bite. Almost instantly, she felt tears welling in her eyes, and she threw herself at Alex. “They’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>perfect, </span>
  </em>
  <span>thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No problem, Julie-bean,” he told her, pressing a kiss to her hair. “It’s what brothers are for.” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments and kudos are much appreciated if you enjoyed it!</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="https://vm.tiktok.com/ZStSHTSS/">Here is the tiktok of the baking process!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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